What next for Laois Offaly TDs and the constituency conundrum facing the new election Commission?

Work on the reconfiguration of Laois and Offaly at General Elections is likely to be one of the tricky conundrums Ireland's new electoral commission will have to grapple with after the Government cleared the way for its operation to commence.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage said the formal establishment of An Coimisiún Toghcháin (the Electoral Commission) by placing it on a statutory footing on February 9 2023, paves the way for the Commission to begin its work as an independent body.

It was accompanied of Hon. Ms. Justice Marie Baker to the role of An Coimisiún Toghcháin’s Chairperson. A statement said her appointment to the role of Chairperson completes An Coimisiún’s seven-person membership, following the appointment of four ordinary members in December 2022. The Clerk of the Dáil and the Ombudsman will sit as ex officio members of An Coimisiún.

It replaces the Election Commission which in 2017 recommended that Laois and Offaly be reunited as a five seat constituency.  It found that the county of Kildare should form a four seat Kildare North constituency and a four seat Kildare South constituency which should include some population from county Offaly and some population from county Laois. The rest of the counties of Laois and Offaly should be joined to form a five seat constituency.

It meant that 12,000 people on both the Laois and Offaly side of Portarlington as well as Killenard and Ballybrittas were represented by Kildare TDs after the 2020 General Election.

The change undid a recommendation from a previous Commission that Laois and Offaly be split into two three-seaters which happened for the first time at the 2016 General Election.

The two constituencies were created by patching part of Tipperary onto Offaly and including Monasterevin in Kildare in the Laois constituency.

The 2022 Census has thrown a further spanner in the works as it showed a further population growth in Laois that means the county is underrepresented in the Dáil via a five-seat constituency. 

Offaly is marginally below the population threshold to be turned into a three-seat constituency for a General Election.

Political scientists have already said that Laois and Offaly are likely to be split again. However, this will be a decision for the new commission.

The Department said An Coimisiún Toghcháin is independent of Government, reporting directly to the Oireachtas and will be central to the administration, development and protection of our democratic processes and institutions.

It said the establishment of An Coimisiún Toghcháin is a commitment in the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future and follows from the Electoral Reform Act 2022. 

It will take on a broad range of core existing electoral functions, including:

• explaining to the public the subject matter of referendums;
• reviewing Dáil Éireann and European Parliament constituencies and local electoral area boundaries;
• the preparation and maintenance of the Register of Political Parties.

It will carry out a range of new electoral roles, including:

• conducting  research on electoral policy and procedure and making; recommendations to the Minister, thereby influencing the evolution of our electoral system;
• providing the public with information on electoral processes (including referenda) and encouraging participation in the electoral and democratic processes of the State;
• overseeing the management of the electoral register;
• reporting on how electoral events are administered;
• regulating online political advertising; and
• protecting the integrity of elections and referendums against online disinformation, misinformation and manipulative or inauthentic behaviour. 

Ms. Justice Baker was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court in 2019.

She was born in Co. Wicklow but lived for most of her childhood in County Cork and was educated in St. Mary's High School, Midleton, Co. Cork, University College Cork (M.A, Philosophy and B.C.L.) and the Honorable Society of King's Inns (B.L.).

Ms. Justice Baker was called to the Bar in 1984 and was called to the Inner Bar in 2004. She practiced in the Cork and Munster circuits. Her primary practice areas included land law and conveyancing, general chancery, family law and commercial law.

She is an accredited mediator.

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Ms. Justice Baker has previously lectured on contract and commercial law in Dublin City University (formerly known as the National Institute of Further Education).

In 2014, she was appointed as a part-time Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission. She was a member of the advisory study group on pre-nuptial agreements which reported to Governemnt in April 2007.

In 2014. she was appointed a judge of the High Court and was assigned to the non-jury and judicial review lists. She was the judge in charge of the personal insolvency list and the non-contentious probate list from 2014 until her appointment to the Court of Appeal.

Upon its coming into effect in May 2018, Ms. Justice Baker was appointed as the assigned judge for the purposes of the applicability of the Data Protection Act 2018 in respect of the supervision of data processing operations of the courts when acting in their judicial capacity.

Ordinary members of An Coimisiún Toghcháin

John Curran, Maura Quinn, Alex Attwood and Caroline Fennell are the Ordinary Members of An Coimisiún Toghcháin.

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Mr. Curran has served as a Minister of State, a TD, and as a local authority member. He will bring this political and administrative experience to An Coimisiún. He also brings expertise in political campaigning. 

Ms. Quinn will provide An Coimisiún with the benefit of her expertise in corporate governance, regulatory affairs and financial matters. She has over 25 years’ experience as a chief executive across a range of sectors.

Mr. Attwood is a former MLA for West Belfast, and has experience as an agent, campaign manager, fundraiser and party chairperson in Northern Ireland. As a member of the UK Electoral Commission, he brings international experience of the administration and regulation of electoral systems. 

Prof. Fennell has worked at a senior level in academia and is a Professor Emerita of Law in University College Cork. She also has a significant background in human rights issues, governance and accountability, including as a current member of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.